Ryan "Camel" Cuddihy: October 16, 2001

Before we get any further, I want to apologize for the delayed publishing of the Dirtsheet this week. But when you only have one article to publish, other than your own, you tend to wait and see if you can get some more. Well, it would seem that I did. So, without further ado (and none of the "fed of the week" BS, because I don't have any to promote this week), Backstage Pass: NYSWF.

UAN was a fairly boring show this week, right up until the end. The matches were well fought, but the storylines weren't advanced nearly at all. Oh well, at least the matches were top-notch. To recap:

~ Shane Cornell d. Shadowhawk. Good match, and good for Cornell, too. He's defying the (25 to 1) odds and staying put. Gotta give him a lot of credit for that. From what I've heard, though... he's got a hell of a challenge coming to him in the form of the monster, ICE. Good luck, Shane... should you make it out alive, consider it a victory.

~ Star Senshi d. Spyke/Jason Phoenix. A good match, but Spyke was off his game. Great performance as usual from Phoenix, and excellent performance as always from the Senshi. The former Orochi Knights seem to be making a strong comeback, and with those vacant tag titles, we could see them grabbing them for a record 4th time. More power to 'em.

~ Dubelicious/CHC d. the Wanderers. Give it up for the oddest pairing since NOTHING and Grady Smith. Dube and Cash looked like guys who'd worked together for years, while the Wanderers looked like they'd just met outside the arena. Very sloppy match for Whisper and Azazel, and if they're looking to be on par with a team like, say, the Senshi, they better get their act together, and QUICK.

~ Michael Draven makes his presence in the NYSWF known again with a little speech for Evan Douglas. Douglas/Draven, Hellbent, Steel Cage: the challenge has been made, will Douglas accept? I have a feeling he will.

~ Alex Haven d. Jon Storm in the Main Event for the NYSWF TV Title. I really was pulling for Storm, as he deserves the time in the spotlight, in my opinion, but sometimes things just don't go the way they should. NOTHING made a quick entrance, knocking both Storm and Haven silly, before setting up the pin... with Haven on top. For someone who really hates his brother-in-law, he really has an odd way of showing it. "You suck, Alex, so here's the TV Title." It was also here that the second match for Hellbent was made: Haven/NOTHING, Ultimate Solution! And what is it with Collins and the "Solution" thing? Eh, I just write the columns.

All in all, a pretty uneventful night for the NYSWF. Would SNH be as boring? I'll give you a hint, the answer is either yes or no.

~ Evan Douglas and Sean Boden end in a no-contest. It seems Boden and Draven have teamed a little here, as Draven quickly interfered in the match, before Evan had even made it to the ring. A chair to the head, followed by one by Boden, followed by a Descent, followed by a Wrath... fun times were had by all, except, of course... Evan Douglas.

~ Dubelicious puts a hurtin' on Spyke, and it looks like we've got a match for... some other show. They never specified... I'm gonna assume next week. After that... Harding Cash knocks Ron Sonic one good. Don't we all wish we could do that?

~ HATE d. NYHC. From what I hear, my boys got fired. Stupid kids. That's what they get. Anywho, they put on a hell of a goodbye show, though, and certainly didn't leave without giving some hell to one Lunatikk Crippler. After the match, Jon Storm attacked NOTHING, Hunter came out to make the save, accidentally leveled Storm with the EPIC Voyage, nailed NOTHING with it, and helped Jon up... to level him again with a steel chair. Nothing like a little teammate feud to liven things up, if you ask me. And that's the way it looks: Hellbent, Jon Storm faces Shawn Hunter. Yikes.

~ Spyke has pulled a gimmick switch... we've got "The Lone Star" Axel Majors now. Jesus, I swear, do these people ever learn from guys like Boden? Pick something you like, and stick with it for cryin' out loud.

~ Michael Draven d. Grady Smith. Jeez... after Kage last week, and Draven this week, Grady Smith's got to be mighty pissed. My question is: are we ever gonna see the C-Notes back in action as a tag team? That's where Grady and Kanyon have really shined since their return to the NYSWF, in my opinion. But I guess we can't win 'em all.

~ Dubelicious talks to Todd Williams about girls. Well, there's some wrestling involved there, but mostly girls. C'mon, man, do that on your own time.

~ Harding Cash doesn't care much for the NYSWF as it is right now... and are you really all that surprised? He's proclaimed his rule over the NYSWF as of... now.

~ John Iley/Chip Masters d. the Love Machines. WOW. Truthfully, as much as I like Iley and Chip, I never saw this coming. A beautiful match by both teams, even with a screwjob ending, it was the top match of the weekend. As the match ended, Chris Kanyon left a nice little bruise on the forehead of Chris Kage with his own World Title. This feud's getting hot... and since Kanyon is the number 1 contender, this is most likely a main event for Hellbent waiting to happen.

The prognosis: SNH was a much better show, but that's really how it should be, right? Anyway, here's a look at next week's cards, continuing the NYSWF's North of the Border Tour (for all you Canucks out there, eh?).

Up All Night:

~ Sean Boden faces Shadowhawk to open the show. My, how the mighty have fallen... a former World Champ opening Up All Night. Well, if you think about it... SmirtDogg did it too. It's gonna be a long climb back to the top, Sean.

~ The Wanderers and the Star Senshi mix it up in tag team action. Now, I'm gonna predict the Senshi here, but if the Wanderers pull together this week and bring their workrate up, they'll find themselves in contention for the tag titles again. If not... well, we might as well hand 'em to the Senshi, cuz who else would we give 'em to? The C-Notes? They haven't wrestled as a team since Boden had the World Title.

~ Harding Cash takes on Jon Storm. Now this one should be interesting... there's a fierce animosity between these two. Both men see the other as arrogant and worthless. Let's see which one gets the braggin' rights.

~ Jason Phoenix locks up with Chip Masters. Lemme tell you, Phoenix is gonna have his hands full with Masters, in my humble opinion. Either way you look at it, though, this match should be a good one, although it kinda reminds me more of a UFC bout than a wrestling match.

~ In the Main Event, it's non-title as Shane Cornell battles the NA-Core champion, ICE. This is Shane Cornell's big challenge right here. I don't expect him to win, but if he can walk out of the arena by the end of the match, he'll have won in my book. Good luck to ya, man, you're gonna need it.

And on Sunday Night Heat:

~ Two men who made relatively successful returns last week face off as Dubelicious and Michael Draven lock horns. I'm gonna go with Draven here... but if Dubelicious can pull this win off, maybe... just maybe I'll become a Dubelicious fan. However, I don't think it's likely.

~ John Iley fights Axel Majors. Here's Spyke/Axel's real test... if he can pull off the Majors gimmick (which I don't see as being much more than a name change), then he might be able to get somewhere. If not... well, he's right back where he started from. As for Iley... well, we all know I'm an Iley mark, so there's no need to even bother there.

~ Evan Douglas defends his Lightweight Title against the Youth's Shawn Hunter. This battle of Elite vs. Youth should be a good one, but I would expect some interference from both groups before the match is over. I'm gonna say Hunter in a screwjob.

~ It's the Main Event, as NOTHING and Grady Smith rekindle an old feud. There's gotta still be some bad blood between these two... I mean, you don't go through a battle like they did in 99 and 2000 and not still hate the other guy's guts. I'm not even gonna try to predict where this one is going.

Should be a good weekend in NYSWF wrestling, so be sure to tune in. Also, be sure to watch the encore presentation of the HWF's Born 2 Bleed (for those of you that missed it; you can find a recap right here)... it'll rock your socks. And of course, don't miss EWA's Wednesday Night War and Thursday Night Thunder this week, either.

Sounds like a busy week.

Camel out.